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My name is Oonagh Turnball and I’m head of

the Corporate Social Responsibilty team at Boots in Nottingham.

I work in a team of 18 people and last year in November,

Julie in our team was diagnised with breast cancer.

Julie being diagnosed had a massive impact on the team

It was just a massive shock, we hadnt experienced anything like it before

and what I really remember about that time was how controlled she was.

It’s interesting isn’t it, everyone around her was flapping

and very emotional and absolutely wanting to say and do the right thing.

and she was very much in control mode,

I know what I’m doing, I’m going to do this,

I’m going to have this treatment, Im going to be fine,

I still want to work. It’s fascinating how different people deal with it

It is quite tricky to manage all the needs of the businees,

the team, workload but also most importantly really,

the needs of the person who is living with cancer

and living through the cancer treatment.

The team was amazing when it came to thinking about

how we would divide up the work.

The job was still there and it had to be done.

Julie was in and out, she very much wanted to come to work

but wasn't there all the time and we couldn’t plan

day to day when she would be in,

We just wanted to be there for her if she needed us

so people had to take on extra duties.

What is amazing is that people will do that, they’re very keen to do that

and try to help out.

It was really important to us that Julie didn't feel her job had gone

but she did go off for her surgery at a really busy time for the team.

What we had to do was support Julie by knowing and telling her

what was happening to that work, who was doing it,

and she knows the people in the team so she was very comfortable with that,

but also be really honest about what would happen when she came back

so she felt reassured that she wouldn't come back to chaos,

she would come back after her surgery, to hopefully something quite organised

and great for her to come back into.

It was really important to me that we kept in touch

in a way that was right for Julie.

She’s a great texter, she’s on Facebook, she’s very multimedia

and that was great for her just to know what was going on

and have some normality and keep up to date with things.

She really wanted to be visited at home, she’s a very socialble individual

and she missed the contact at work.

So particularly when she was going through her chemo,

to be able to pop out and see her was important.

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When it came to the time when Julie was ready to come back to work,

when her treatment was finished, we knew she would have to be eased back in

because she works full time and it’s a busy job.

There are so many different options when it comes to returning for work

and probably the most important thing is

thinking about what is right for that individual

and using that option depending on what that individual needs

and what the business can accommodate.

Our big learning for me is that it will change over time.

It's a year now since Julie was diagnosed

and it has been a really emotional year.

but I look at it now, she's moved into a different job which she loves,

in the same team but a different area,

and it’s just fantastic that we can say we did it,

we got through it together and life has gone on and it’s good.